In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a Harvard graduate and Johns Hopkins scientist, performed a series of experiments that tested how long rats could swim in high-sided buckets of water before drowning.

Richter found that a rat would swim for an average of 15 minutes before surrendering to a watery grave.

However, if he rescued the rats just before drowning, dried them off, let them rest briefly, and then put them back into the same buckets of water, the rats could swim an average of 60 hours. 

The only conclusion that the scientist came to was that rats were able to swim longer because they were given hope. 

240 times longer!

Now before we talk about the power of hope, I need to say that I think Dr. Richter is a very cruel man! Now that I have got that off my chest…

15 minutes without hope versus 60 hours with hope. It almost seems like fake news, but it is absolutely true. Google it.

The rats were given strength through hope, and once they realised that the situation was not hopeless, they just kept swimming.

I have some awesome news for you:

With God, there is always hope! With God there is no such thing as a hopeless situation, only people that have given up on hope in the situation.

Don’t give up. Just keep swimming!

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30b-31 (The Bible)

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